Ghaggar to be widened near Tiwana village, says Minister

Punjab Water Resources Minister Barinder Kumar Goyal, while responding to the motion moved by Dera Bassi MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa in the Assembly, assured that the government would soon implement the proposal to widen the Ghaggar river near Tiwana village in the Dera Bassi constituency and strengthen its embankments with soil.

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The Cabinet minister said the department would get this work started with immediate effect (from tomorrow) at a cost of about Rs 11 lakh. The river will be widened at the village on the right side and the embankment strengthened on the other side.

The minister said the water level in the river had increased significantly at the village after the heavy rain in 2023, flooding the cultivable lands on the left side. Also, erosion had resulted in the land level getting lower by about 10 feet, after which the department had put up stone revetments and studs on a 2500-foot length to protect the cultivable land from further erosion.

To support this revetment, a dam was built by putting soil behind it.

He said the department had spent Rs 10 crore on this work and since then.

Repair work

Goyal said on June 29 this year, the heavy rain in the Ghaggar catchment led to a sudden increase in the water level. While the stone revetment remained intact, the earthen embankment behind the revetment eroded at some places. The department took immediate action and repaired the embankment.

The minister said on July 8, there was again a lot of water in the river, but it passed without causing any damage to this embankment.